More than a thousand people are believed to have been killed in recent weeks as Syrian government forces laid siege to the rebel-controlled region of eastern Ghouta outside the capital of Damascus. The United Nations estimates that 400,000 people still live in the villages and towns in the besieged region, trapped by several rebel groups who won’t let them leave and by Syrian government blockades that block their paths. Despite international pressure to call a ceasefire, Syrian ground forces and Russian-backed air forces have maintained their assault, recently gaining territory and splitting the region into three parts. This battle is just one of many still taking place across the fractured nation of Syria seven years since the start of its civil war.
The Siege of Eastern Ghouta and Seven Years of War in Syria
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Civil defense members with a firehose react at a damaged site after an airstrike in the besieged town of Douma, eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria, on February 9, 2018. #
Bassam Khabieh / Reuters -
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A Syrian man carries an infant rescued from the rubble of buildings following government bombing in the rebel-held town of Hamouria, in eastern Ghouta, on February 19, 2018. #
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A Syrian opposition fighter from the Failaq al-Rahman brigade walks past damaged buildings on the front line in the rebel-held enclave of Arbin, in eastern Ghouta, on February 15, 2018. #
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Ten-year-old Omar, who was injured in an airstrike that killed several members of his family in their home in Otaybah, Syria, receives treatment at a makeshift hospital in eastern Ghouta on February 25, 2018. #
Amer Almohibany / AFP / Getty -
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A member of the Syrian government forces flashes the sign for victory while sitting in a tank after entering al-Shifoniya as they advance into rebel-held eastern Ghouta on March 4, 2018. #
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Trucks from the Syrian Red Crescent and humanitarian partners are seen in Ghouta on March 5, 2018, in this picture obtained from social media. The convoy was only able to unload part of its supplies, cutting its mission short and returning amid continued violence in the region. #
Syrian Red Crescent via Reuters -
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Syrian government forces drive tanks outside of the town of Jisreen on the southern edge of the rebel-held eastern Ghouta enclave, as they advance in the area on March 11, 2018. #
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